Michelin-starred chef Aiden Byrne to take the reigns at Manchester's Black Friar pub

Tanwen Dawn-Hiscox

Deputy Editor

Michelin-starred Chef Aiden Byrne is set to open a three-story venue on the site of the grade-ii listed Black Friar Pub in salford, Manchester.

The news comes after the chef owner of The Church Green - for which he earned a star aged 22 - announced the permanent closure of Restaurant MCR, as, he said, investment in the venue was too risky to justify staying.

A £2m investment will see the original 18th century building renovated and a single level glazed structure constructed adjacently.

Across the three floors, the establishment will offer casual dining and a fine dining concept, seating between 20 to 25 people, leaving the final floor open to the possibility of a chef's table.

The chef, whose core MCR team has been invited to stay on at the new venue said the venue would bring "whole new experience" to the neighbourhood, "with the ground floor providing the hustle and bustle of casual dining and the pub providing the ‘local’ for Blackfriars."

Development company Salboy and construction partner Domis will fund part of the renovation work, with a 'significant' personal investment coming from the chef and his wife Sarah, who will too run the business.

The chef said Salboy founder and director Simon Ismail and Domis managing director Lee McCarren "are just gorgeous blokes who really wanted this to happen and for it to be the very best. They have been great to deal with. I was introduced to them and was gobsmacked by the quality of work at Blackfriars and their passion for the area.

If planning approval goes through as planned next month, the new venue will launch in late summer.

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